Kudos! Vickie S. Stanley, Metro Transit Operator
We took bus 7037 on route 14 Saturday, June 28th. We accidentally went the wrong direction but the bus driver, Vickie Stanley, was so helpful. She recognized we were from out-of-town and pointed out the sights we went by. And she assured us she would help us find our stop. She even offered to meet us later with coupons to get discount prices at the tourist places. We exchanged phone numbers and plan to keep in touch, especially if she ever makes it to Arizona. A bus driver became a fast friend – that’s amazing service
– Nancy Shippy.
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Ebola information and resources
As you know, the news coverage from Dallas and West Africa has heightened community concerns about Ebola. Public Health has been actively working to provide information and guidance to King County residents, health care providers, and partner agencies. They also want all King County employees to be up-to-date with information and resources about Ebola.
First, it’s important to know that no one in King County has Ebola and health officials have determined that the risk of an outbreak is extremely low. Although the healthcare system is getting ready to quickly identify and isolate anyone who potentially has Ebola, there are no immediate plans for any Ebola patients to be evacuated to King County hospitals.
Public Health is sending regular updates to health care providers and providing guidance on managing possible Ebola patients. In the event that someone in King County contracted Ebola, that patient would be isolated and cared for at a hospital. Hospitals in Washington and across the U.S. are well equipped to care for a person with Ebola by following normal infection control procedures.
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Teachers get Public Health immersion to help student career choices
Two high school teachers spent an intense eight days with Public Health’s Environmental Health Services division (EH) – and set the stage for teaching students about career opportunities in Public Health.
Each teacher shadowed eight different staff in EH. They learned about food and facilities, solid waste and hazardous waste materials, how information technology serves the mission, and more.
The teachers are part of a Teacher Externship Program sponsored by the Washington Alliance for Better Schools which is affiliated with 11 school districts. The program trained 22 local teachers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) this summer. The goal is to improve the teaching of STEM by making the subjects more relevant to students, showing them real-world applications.
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Five Questions with Roxanne Vierra, Disability Compliance Specialist, Office of Civil Rights & Open Government
1. What was your first role at King County? I’d previously worked 10 years at the U.W. Disabled Student Services office, then 10 years at the Seattle Office for Civil Rights, where my position included primarily fair housing investigations and a bit of public disability access. When I was offered this job with King County 16 years ago, I was excited because it allowed me to use my Disability Specialist experience in a more active way. While I still handle fair housing enforcement and outreach, my role as Disability Compliance Specialist enables me to provide a much wider range of awareness and access assistance to county employees and members of the public.
2. What do you do as Disability Compliance Specialist? My role is to assist County departments and staff in providing accessible services, programs and activities for members of the public who have disabilities. I provide technical assistance about access laws, available resources, and information about accommodations. I conduct several disability awareness workshops for County staff. Many departments consult with me regarding access in the construction and remodeling of County facilities. I also handle grievances filed by residents who feel they didn’t obtain access or accommodations when dealing with County programs.
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Employee Giving Campaign comes to Renton
All King County employee are invited to meet some 30 nonprofit organizations at the Employee Giving Program Renton Expo at Elections on Oct. 8 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and learn more about how their dollars can help our community, 
A sampling of Expo offerings:
- Have a wacky or serious picture taken at a photo booth
- Enter to win prizes, including “Fitbits”
- Sample bake sale goodies and support Northwest Harvest
- And more!
Check out #KCEGPEXPO in social media to follow what’s happening at Expos.
Last year, Elections employees pledged more than $18,000 through the Annual Giving Drive, helping King County raise a record-breaking $1.77M for non-profit organizations. The top six nonprofits Elections employees selected were:
- Northwest Harvest (9013)
- Pasado’s Safe Haven (9112)
- Seattle Humane (9148)
- Operation Homefront – Pacific Northwest (2780)
- New Beginnings (9365) and
- KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio (9069).
You can go online or use a paper form through Friday, Nov. 21 to make a pledge to a nonprofit or cause that you are passionate about. Three ways you can donate:
- One-time, monthly, or semi-monthly donations by payroll deduction;
- Personal checks; or
- Donate vacation or compensatory time to be converted to dollars.
King County Elections is located at 919 SW Grady Way in Renton. Learn more about the campaign.
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King County employee a published author
King County employees do lots of interesting things in their “other lives” in addition to the work they do for King County. We’re sharing some of their stories in our “Other Lives” series. 
While waiting for a flight to San Diego after her father had died, Donna Miscolta started writing a novel.
“I was thinking of my father who had come to the United States as an immigrant. He had never really talked about his experiences in the Philippines or his early years as an immigrant,” Miscolta said. “I sort of used that experience as a starting point in the novel.”
“When the de la Cruz Family Danced,” Miscolta’s first published novel, revolves around two characters’ immigration story from the Philippines to the U.S.
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Former Marine finds new way to serve community
After two Iraq tours in the Marine Corps, Gavriel Jacobs’ plan was to pursue a career in law enforcement.
“I wanted to come back from Iraq and the Middle East to go from serving my country to serving my community and really planned on joining the Seattle Police or Washington State Patrol,” Jacobs said.
But when he lost his leg below the knee in combat and spent a year in the hospital, he had to rethink his career goals.
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Join us in celebrating Disability Awareness Month
October is Disability Awareness Month, and it’s a great time to raise awareness and learn more about the work that King County does to provide opportunities for all individuals to participate, contribute and thrive in our communities.
Attend a lunch and learn event
- Invisible Voices: What Do You Think of When You Hear the Word Disability? (video + discussion) | Thursday, October 16, noon – 2 p.m. Chinook Building, Room 121, 401 Fifth Avenue, Seattle | Presenter: Roxanne Vierra, Disability Compliance Specialist, King County Office of Civil Rights & Open Government | Contact Roxanne.Vierra@kingcounty.gov to register.
- Deafness Awareness Workshop (ASL interpreters will be present) | Thursday, October 30, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.King County Courthouse, C912, 516 Third Avenue, Seattle | Presenter: Ariele Belo, Director of Deaf & Hard of Hearing Services, Hearing, Speech & Deafness Center | Contact Roxanne.Vierra@kingcounty.gov to register.
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Planned System Outage for PeopleSoft Upgrade
The PeopleSoft system will be shut down after 6 p.m. on Thursday, October 2 and will remain down until 6 a.m. on Monday, October 6.
During this time, the PeopleSoft Upgrade Project team will be completing the tasks necessary to complete the final steps of upgrading the PeopleSoft applications from version 9.0 to version 9.2. The system will not be available for access by any County staff.
Many of you have shortcuts on your desktop and/or favorites stored in your internet browsers with the link to the current PeopleSoft 9.0 environment. As part of the upgrade the PeopleSoft applications will be moving to new servers, and there will be a new URL to access the PeopleSoft 9.2 production environment. All staff will need to replace any shortcuts, and/or favorites stored on computers.
The Project Team is working with KCIT to ensure all links available on any King County website are updated with the new link.
Should any staff use an old link, they will be taken to a page that will inform them of the change and will provide a link to the upgraded PeopleSoft Production environment.
There will be a communication sent out early Monday, October 6 informing all County staff of the new PeopleSoft 9.2 Production environment URL to be used to access the upgraded system.
Should you encounter any problem with the new URL, please call the KCIT Help Desk at 263-HELP (4357).
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Kudos! Metro Transit Operator Philip H. Moseley
Good Morning – I just got on the Rapid B Line to Redmond from Bellevue Transit Center. Bus #6029. This bus driver is BY FAR the most pleasant driver I have ever encountered while riding Metro. He greeted EVERY driver with a smile and a “Good Morning.” Way to go Metro for employing such a wonderful, energetic, and Safe driver!! Just thought you should know!! – Anna T
Employee News 